Pennsylvania's Marketplace of Ideas

Right Wing Limericks

by Al Bienstock

OBAMACARE PERSUASION

The Obamacare plan is pure junk.
Grade the plan and the rollout â€“ they flunk.
So, Barack has a plan â€“
If you are a barman,
Sell it by getting young people drunk.

Washington Examiner, 12/5/13: "During today's White House Youth Summit, President Obama called on young people to do whatever then can to promote his signature health Care law â€“ including plying their customers with cheap booze. 'If you're a bartender, have A happy hour,' Obama said..."

OBAMACARE SECURITY RISK

For consumer fraud on a grand scale,
On security, their grade is Fail.
Personal info at risk?
Their response is, tsk tsk.
Obama's team should all be in jail.

The Daily Caller, 12/4/13: "A 'good-guy hacker' who probed for weaknesses in the security systems of HealthCare.gov told Fox News on Wednesday that 'no security was built into this entire infrastructure' and that citizens' personal data is at serious risk."

CAN'T KEEP YOUR PLAN, DOCS OR DRUGS

Obamacare deserves lots of "ughs."
Its developers â€“ a bunch of thugs â€“
From the start were aware
That they'd destroy healthcare.
The latest is... you can't keep your drugs.

Forbes, 12/9/13: "Simply put, many drugs may not be covered at all, and the costs patients incur by buying them with cash won't count against out of pocket caps."

INCOME REDISTRIBUTION

Leftists shout that taxes should be "fair"
And the wealthy should pay their "fair share."
But the truth libs abhor
Is that the "rich" pay more
(A fact of which we should be aware).

Left-wingers choose to misrepresent
What tax payments by the "rich" have meant.
The poorest four in ten
Pay less than nothing, when
Their net's minus nine-point-one percent.

CNS News, 12/9/13: "The top 40 percent of households by before-tax income actually paid 106.2 percent of the nation's net income taxes in 2010, according to a new study by the Congressional Budget Office. At the same time, households in the bottom 40 percent took in an average of $18,950 in what CBO called 'government transfers' in 2010. Taxpayers in the top 40 percent of households were able to pay more than 100 percent of net federal income taxes in 2010 because Americans in the bottom 10 percent actually paid negative income taxes, according to the CBO study entitled 'The Distribution of Household Income and Federal Taxes, 2010' ... In 2010, the lowest Quintile's average rate for the individual income tax was â€“9.2 percent and the second Income quintile's rate was â€“2.3 percent."

In November, Pennsylvania voters handed Republicans in the General Assembly historic majorities. In the Senate, the Republicans have a veto-proof majority. Across the Capitol, the Republicans in the House have a 40 vote advantage. The coming New Year also portends an impending battle over the [...]

'Tis the season when many Americans donate to their favorite charity. While leaders in the nonprofit sector remain firm in their conviction that they are best suited to deal with Pennsylvania's social and economic challenges they are concerned that public trust in charities is not as high as [...]

Videos

PA Manufacturers' Assn.

Thu, September 01, 2016

Kurt Masser: Putting Government to Work

Rep. Kurt Masser (R-Northumberland) is an endangered species in the genus of elected officials. Before holding office, he was an employer. He made payroll, paid employer and employee taxes, abided by ...

Spend First, Revenue Later Budget Stalls

The General Assembly and Governor Tom Wolf are still working towards a budget agreement, which, as of this writing, will likely be finalized in the weeks following the June 30 deadline. While no one ...

PA on Wrong End of Debt, Solvency Ranking

Spending restraint and opposition to tax hikes by Republican lawmakers over the past five years have likely kept Pennsylvania from entering a fiscal death spiral. A new study by the Mercatus Center ...

PA Steel Industry Faces Challenges

Pennsylvania has a robust steel industry history, as we truly were and should again be the steel capital of the entire world. Steel from our commonwealth has built some of the most notable landmarks ...

PMA: Toomey for PA

If Pennsylvania's U. S. Senate race went to the candidate most qualified to promote economic growth and create jobs, it wouldn't be a race at all. Incumbent Republican Pat Toomey is one of the prime ...

Fred Anton: Stay Focused on PA Elections

Fred Anton opened the 2016 Pennsylvania Leadership Conference (PLC) in Harrisburg this past weekend with a word of caution: with the presidential election dominating the headlines, don't lose focus ...

Rookie Governor Inflicts Pain, Suffering

For all practical purposes, the General Fund budget signed in part by Governor Wolf in late December was the same one he vetoed in early July. At the time of the signing, he didn't indulge the press ...

Broken Promises of Green Energy Programs

As lawmakers hold firm against the Wolf tax increase proposals they are also warding off some bad actors that go along with them. A proposed increase in the tax on Marcellus Shale drilling would fund ...

Wolf Vetoes Budget: Pushes Tax Hikes

To protect the special interests of public employee unions, Governor Tom Wolf vetoed a $30 billion 2015-2016 General Fund budget approved this week by the Republican-controlled General Assembly. The ...

Make Debt Reduction Part of Budget

Rep. Todd Stephens (R-Montgomery) rightly says this budget season presents a perfect opportunity for the General Assembly to reduce public debt. Stephens is spurred by more than just a commitment to ...

House GOP in Good Hands

On November 4th, the Pennsylvania electorate turned right and included in the General Assembly's sweep a more conservative Pennsylvania House of Representatives. A week later those lawmakers in turn ...

One Third of Potential Hires Fail/Refuse Drug Test

Chinese Cyber Theft Massive Problem for U.S. Economy

The People's Liberation Army isn't going to hand over five of their officers who were recently indicted by the U.S. Attorney General for cyber stealing the secrets of five Pittsburgh-based companies ...

Transparency, Openness and Accountability

State lawmakers and Attorney General Kathleen Kane had distinct and telling responses to a Philadelphia Inquirer report that four House members accepted cash gifts in a sting operation. The House and ...

Strong Showing for Corbett at PLC

Benefits of Multi-Modal Funding

The January 20 derailment of five rail cars carrying crude oil through Philadelphia turned out to be a minor blip in media reports. Thanks to safety procedures of CSX railroad, the oil was contained ...

No War on Coal?

The Obama administration is attempting to re-invent America's energy sector by completely eliminating fossil fuels. From the recently-proposed EPA standards for CO2 emissions for new coal-fired power ...

Lawmakers Work to Lighten Regulatory Burden

In 1988, former Democratic presidential candidate and life-long liberal, George McGovern, bought a resort hotel in Connecticut. Two years later the hotel went bankrupt. In a 1991 commentary published ...

Stop Big Labor's Protection Racket

Philadelphia has New York City construction costs and Cleveland residential and office lease rates. To understand what lurks behind the lopsided building market, consider the travails of Philadelphia ...

Manufacturing Gains New Focus

The economic power behind a half million manufacturing jobs brought two lawmakers together who, in some ways, couldn't be further apart. State Representative Eli Evankovich (R-54), a Republican from ...

PMA Supports Corbett Budget

PMA: Corbett Education Initiative Key to PLCB Privatization

Last week, Governor Tom Corbett demolished any lingering excuse for why, 80 years after the end of prohibition, Pennsylvania is still in the liquor business. The Governor is proposing that the money ...

Positioned for Marcellus Shale Boom

Total natural gas resources in the Marcellus Shale far exceed earlier government estimates, according to recent studies by two financial firms, Standard ~Poor's and ITG Investment Research. The news ...